Speechifying

Say it – out loud!

I don’t find this scene from Twilight particularly engrossing – it’s best watched utilizing the Riff Trax podcast available here – but the line does reflect something that is deeply embedded in our nature as human beings: the importance of speech in our lives.

A lot of speechifying has been going on in the U.S. during this election year; I tuned in to catch a few of the Democratic and Republican conventions over the last couple weeks. Many of these speeches were dull and repetitive, a few were decent, and at least one was bizarre and kind of hilarious.

Why has “the speech” remained one of the most important political “arts” even in our fast-paced age of mass communication and sound-bites? Isn’t an hour-long oration a little old-fashioned for the 21^st century?

Maybe fewer people are listening, but it’s still important what a person will stand up and say – out loud. Words matter, and it also matters how words are said. Are they delivered with conviction? Does this person actually believe what they are saying, or are they only saying what they think we want to hear?

Speeches reflect something about both a speaker and an audience, about how they see the world, what they believe in, what they honor and cherish. 

Great speakers are able to both deliver hard truths, and to inspire, to make people believe in a better tomorrow. I didn’t really get a sense of any convincing hard truth-telling or real inspiration going on at the recent conventions, but I'm glad people still try. At the very least, when someone gives a speech we can learn what they think people want to hear, and what they are willing to be heard saying, out loud.